Don't Harm My Lord, You Thieves!

Fallen Warrior Hunt was a common practice during Japan's Warring States period.

To protect their villages or seize supplies, peasants would search for enemy samurai who had fled after defeat following a change of regime, then rob and kill them.

The peasants profited by selling the samurai's armor, swords, and other weapons, or simply took their money outright. This custom stemmed from the medieval notion that the defeated were "outside the law," and it reached its peak during the Warring States period.

Across Japan, the power of locally autonomous villages was so strong that daimyo were often unable to interfere with such acts. Only after Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued the Total Peace Edict, along with policies such as the separation of warriors and farmers and the Sword Hunt Edict, did this practice gradually fade away.

But now, Yamauchi Kazutoyo had no choice but to experience this hallmark of the Warring States period for himself.

"Ha! Four samurai, and several women besides. We've struck it rich this time!"

Nehei felt as though heaven itself had favored him. The Battle of Iwakura was nearly over, and he had thought there was nothing left to loot. Yet right outside his own doorstep, he had run into the Yamauchi family's party.

The moment these farmers working in the fields heard that fighting had broken out near Mount Komaki, they came sniffing after it like sharks smelling blood in the sea.

"Throw down your weapons, and perhaps we'll spare your lives!" Nehei seemed wary of the spears and swords in Yamauchi Kazutoyo's group's hands, and did not launch an attack at once.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo clenched his spear shaft and kept backing away. These people clearly meant them harm. If he believed such nonsense, he would truly be a fool.

Goto Joki stepped forward on his own initiative and called out, "We carry no money on us. Why not let us leave first? We will repay you handsomely in the future."

"Who are you trying to fool?" Nehei shot back.

"Then there's nothing left to discuss. So what if you're samurai lords? You'll bleed just the same under a blade!"

Nehei waved his hand. "Attack!"

The instant he spoke, more than a dozen rioters closed in rapidly.

This was clearly not their first time doing such a thing. They even knew how to work together. Those wielding long-handled weapons separated Yamauchi Kazutoyo's group from their families, while the rest, armed with sickles, rushed straight at the women and children.

"You're courting death!" Yamauchi Kazutoyo roared, sweeping his spear and knocking one man down.

Horio Yoshiharu faced three or four men alone without yielding an inch. His sword hacked fiercely, forcing several attackers back in succession.

Horio Yasuharu and Goto Joki bore the greatest pressure. They had to fend off the attacks while protecting the women.

Ten-year-old Kichisuke stepped forward to help as well, but the short sword in his hand was hardly intimidating. Small of stature, he rolled and crawled across the ground, drawing laughter from the rioters.

Spotting an opening, one rioter lunged forward while Horio Yasuharu was tied down and grabbed hold of Lady Yamauchi's robe.

"Ha! Come here, you!"

Lady Yamauchi was terrified. She clawed frantically at the man's face with both hands, but she was too weak to break free.

"My lady!"

"Don't harm my lord, you thieves!" Goto Joki's eyes nearly split with rage.

Yamauchi Moritoyo had entrusted his wife and children to him. If anything happened to them, how could he ever answer to Yamauchi Moritoyo?

In that moment of distraction, the bamboo spear in the rioter's hands came crashing down. Goto Joki took the blow head-on, and his arm went numb.

Horio Yasuharu shouted, drawing away part of their attention, then whirled his spear wildly to relieve Goto Joki.

Goto Joki rushed forward. The rioter still clutching Lady Yamauchi was caught off guard and kicked to the ground by him.

"Mother, come quickly!" Kichisuke shouted to Lady Yamauchi.

Horio Yasuharu and Goto Joki were both on the other side, and at that moment another three or four rioters emerged behind them.

Komai and Kōgō were scared stiff. It was the first time either little girl had ever experienced anything like this.

Goto Joki's eldest son, Kichibē, was only seven, while Goto's wife still held an infant in her arms. She was so frantic that she spun in circles.

Lady Yamauchi had only just escaped the tiger's jaws when she came under attack again. The sickle in the foremost rioter's hand was already swinging down.

"No!" Goto's wife steeled herself and charged forward, knocking the attacker over in one stride. Kichizō in her arms immediately burst into loud sobs.

"Courting death!" The rioter who had been knocked down struggled to his feet and slashed at Goto's wife with his sickle.

In panic, Goto's wife turned her back and shielded her young son. In an instant, a bloody gash appeared across her back.

She spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

The screams of the family behind him threw Yamauchi Kazutoyo into a panic. The movements of his spear gradually became disordered as well.

These Fallen Warrior Hunters were cunning. They clung to the two men like dogskin plasters, refusing to fight Yamauchi Kazutoyo and Horio Yoshiharu to the death.

"Iemon, get over there! I'll handle this!" Horio Yoshiharu stood before Yamauchi Kazutoyo with a sword in one hand and a spear in the other, killing intent boiling from him.

Yamauchi Kazutoyo did not waste words. He turned at once to rescue his family.

Just then, the sharp report of a matchlock rang out without warning, and one of the rioters dropped in response.

The sudden turn of events startled everyone present.

Not just anyone could wield a matchlock. Yamauchi Kazutoyo thought Oda clan pursuers had arrived, while the rioters believed they had stumbled into an ambush.

A wisp of gun smoke drifted from the trees on the other side of the road. Then the branches began shaking incessantly; who knew how many people might be hiding within?

"Retreat!"

Nehei turned and ran without another word. Wealth might move a man's heart, but he had to stay alive to take it.

The rioters fled in disarray. Yamauchi Kazutoyo and Horio Yoshiharu quickly turned their spearheads, watching the direction of the gunshot warily.

Before long, a figure burst out, waving both hands.

"Saburozaemon, it's me!"

Yamauchi Kazutoyo turned to Goto Joki. The latter's expression relaxed, and he forced out a faint smile.

"It's Sobue Kan'emon. One of us!"

Owari Province, Kiyosu Castle.

Two years earlier, Oda Nobunaga's concubine Ikoma Kitsuno had borne him his eldest son, Kimmomaru. Last year, she had borne him a second son, Chasenmaru, while another concubine had borne him a third son, Kanpachi.

With three healthy sons arriving in quick succession, and the war against the Iwakura Oda clan progressing very smoothly as well, Oda Nobunaga had been in an excellent mood lately.

His father, Oda Nobuhide, had twelve sons and fifteen daughters. Oda Nobunaga was determined to surpass Oda Nobuhide in every respect, and naturally could not fall behind in the matter of heirs.

Oda Nobunaga remained confident in this regard. After all, the Oda clan was quite capable of producing children.

The only fly in the ointment was that his lawful wife, Kichō, had remained childless for many years. Especially after Oda Nobunaga's father-in-law and brother-in-law, Saito Dosan, died, Oda Nobunaga had always wanted Kichō to bear him a son. That way, he could gain a "claim" on Mino.

Inside the palace at Kiyosu Castle, Oda Nobunaga's good mood vanished without a trace when he saw Kawajiri Hidetaka and Mori Yoshinari return empty-handed.

"What?"

"He got away?"

Oda Nobunaga could scarcely believe that Oda Nobukata had escaped Iwakura Castle right under his nose.

Kawajiri Hidetaka explained, "We had caught up with Oda Nobukata at Mount Komaki, but troops from Inuyama Castle suddenly charged out and disrupted our formation. Oda Nobukata used the confusion to escape."

"Oda Nobukiyo?" Oda Nobunaga froze for a moment, then suddenly understood. "It seems he still refuses to submit!"

"The Inuyama family is clearly defying my lord by acting this way. We should send troops at once and teach him a lesson!" Mori Yoshinari said indignantly.

Oda Nobunaga waved a hand. "No!"

"Inuyama and Matsukura are too close to Mino. Saito Yoshitatsu did not send troops when our clan took Iwakura Castle, but that does not mean he can truly sit by and watch us wage a great campaign beneath his very eyes."

"Sending troops now would only drive Oda Nobukiyo and Maeno Muneyasu completely to Saito Yoshitatsu's side. The losses would outweigh the gains."

"As long as Oda Nobukiyo does not openly rebel, let him be!"

Oda Nobunaga's next objective was to retake Narumi Castle and Odaka Castle, which Imagawa Yoshimoto occupied. At such a critical moment, he would not prod Saito Yoshitatsu's sensitive nerves.

He needed a buffer zone between Owari and Mino. Otherwise, the pressure of fighting on two fronts was not something he could bear at present.

"Pass down the order: exile Oda Nobukata, and forbid him from ever returning to Owari for the rest of his life."

"At the same time, pardon the retainers of the Iwakura Oda clan. Though our clan will not recognize their former land stipends, they may have the chance to swear loyalty to us."

At twenty-six, Oda Nobunaga possessed insight far beyond ordinary men. By exiling Oda Nobukata while allowing the Iwakura Oda clan's samurai to pledge loyalty to himself, he would instead find it easier to establish a system of control over the four upper districts.

As long as he controlled the local samurai and could mobilize ashigaru from those lands, the Iwakura Oda clan would become nothing but an empty shell. It would not matter whether it remained or not!

"They want Oda Nobukata, don't they? Then give him to them."

"As long as the land and the people belong to our clan, I want to see what waves a mere Oda Nobukata can possibly stir!"